Nama (in older sources also called
Namaqua) are an
African ethnic group of
South Africa,
Namibia and
Botswana. They speak the
Nama language of the
Khoe-Kwadi (Central Khoisan) language family. The Nama are the largest group of the
Khoikhoi people, most of whom have largely disappeared as a group, except for the Namas. Many live in
Namaqualand.
For thousands of years, the Khoisan peoples of South Africa and southern Namibia maintained a nomadic way of life.
From 1904 to 1907, the Nama, along with the Herero took up arms against the Germans, who had colonized present-day Namibia. In which 10,000 Nama, 50% of the total Nama population, perished.
Following the discovery of diamonds at the mouth of the Orange River in the 1920s, however, prospectors began moving into the region, establishing towns at Alexander Bay and Port Nolloth, a process that accelerated the appropriation of traditional lands that had begun early in the colonial period. Under apartheid, remaining pastoralists were encouraged to abandon their traditional lifestyle in favor of village life.
